Calvin and Hobbes was a daily comic strip written and illustrated by Bill Watterson, following the humorous antics of Calvin, an imaginative six-year old boy and Hobbes, his energetic and sardonic — albeit stuffed — tiger. The strip was syndicated from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995. At its height, Calvin and Hobbes was carried by over 2,400 newspapers worldwide. To date, more than 30 million copies of 18 Calvin and Hobbes books have been printed.[1]

The strip is vaguely set in the contemporaryMidwestern United States, on the outskirts of suburbia. The location is apparently inspired by Chagrin Falls, Ohio, where Watterson lived. On the back of the first Calvin and Hobbes treasury, Calvin is portrayed as a giant destroying downtown Chagrin Falls, holding the local popcorn shop in his hands. On another occasion, Hobbes recalls that Calvin's house is near the letter "E" in the word "STATES" on a map of the U.S. In the most revealing strip about the location of Calvin's home, Calvin is seen climbing a very high slide, eventually getting up so high that the slide can be seen pointing down through the clouds to Central Ohio. For more details, see setting of Calvin and Hobbes.

Calvin and Hobbes themselves appear in most of the strips, though several have focused instead upon Calvin's family. The broad themes of the strip deal with Calvin's flights of fantasy, his friendship with Hobbes, his misadventures, his views on a diverse range of political and cultural issues and his relationships and interactions with his parents, classmates, educators, and other members of society. The dual nature of Hobbes is also a recurring motif; Calvin sees Hobbes as alive, while other characters see him as a stuffed animal, a point discussed more fully in Hobbes' main article. Unlike political strips such as Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury, the series does not mention specific political figures, but does examine broad issues like environmentalism and the flaws of opinion polls.[2]

Because of Watterson's strong anti-merchandising sentiments[3] and his reluctance to return to the spotlight, almost no legitimate Calvin and Hobbes licensed merchandise exists outside of the book collections. Some officially approved items were created for marketing purposes and are now sought by collectors.[4] Two notable exceptions to the licensing embargo were the publication of two 16-month wall calendars and the textbook Teaching with Calvin and Hobbes.[5]

However, the strip's immense popularity has led to the appearance of various "bootleg" items, including T-shirts, keychains, bumper stickers, and window decals, often including obscene language or references wholly uncharacteristic of the whimsical spirit of Watterson's work.